My Visible Soul

Great New Designs, and more!

2007-01-06T05:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, and happy new year!

Instead of taking the time to relax, drink too much, eat too much and party this holiday season, I was hard at work with some new designs. Well, not really that hard at work. Okay, and I did actually eat and drink and party. But it sounded good for a second, didn't it? :)

I've developed 5 new red heart designs, like this one:

Cute, eh? Each heart is similar but different -- of course, that describes every furbaby on the face of the planet! Similar, but different. Anyway, I like the funky new design, and will be keeping it on full time.

I've also spent some time redesigning the main store page. It's now a combo of chocolate (I guess I did have too much food over the holidays!) and blue (what I feel when I step on that scale after all that food!!). Okay, that's silly too, but I do like the chocolate and blue storefront, and I'm showcasing each and every design -- 47 to date. I don't mean each product (t-shirt, thong...) I mean, 47 actual designs (blue sunburst border collie, red heart bulldog...)

And I have finally sent out my first newsletter! There is only 1 subscriber right now, but it was fun to create. Whew!

SLIGHTLY SAD NEWS
It is with some sadness, and a little relief, that I announce that I am shutting down the radio station in June 2007. I've had that station for years, but my heart is not in it anymore. It takes me about 10-14 hours of real time to create 1 hour of meditation, for example. And I think I can better spend my time doing other things... like new t-shirt designs, writing on the blog, eating chocolate ;P

The radio station was simply taking up too much time for too little feedback, no profit (it costs me to run it, but it was never designed to make money) and the fun of it is gone. I've toyed with ideas on how to revive my interest in it -- change formats, etc etc, but the spark is gone, time to move on. C'est la vie! I do hope, though, that my next project, whatever it may be, gives me the same fun times I've had over the years with my radio station.

I bid you all adieu (it is sounding so French in here today, isn't it?) and wish you all the best in 2007.

--Sue

Mr Darcy

2006-12-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

This is Mr Darcy, originally owned by my older sister. When she moved out of my father's house, she left him behind and my dad took ownership. He loved Darcy. Then my sister moved back, and took Darcy back again. She is moving out again, and was going to take Darcy with her. She doesn't even like him! But fortunately, common sense has prevailed and Darcy will be staying with my dad. With all the cat lovers in the room, Darcy only gets onto my father's lap... they belong together!

Reese and the invisible string

2006-12-23T03:23:00.000-08:00

Finally!

2006-12-15T03:40:00.000-08:00

Well, finally! I've had Reese for a year and a half, having gotten her at about that age, from a rescue group. And finally, without coaxing, without my even realizing it at first, she actually lay on my chest while I was lying down!

Now, don't get too excited, she was only there for about 10 minutes. But it's a first, nonetheless. I was just starting to fall asleep when I realized she was lying there. I gave her a few pets, heard a bit of a purr, and she actually didn't run away. For a whole 10 minutes! Wow, lucky lucky!

It's an early birthday present, I guess ;P

Pet Portraits Now Complete

2006-12-10T04:25:00.000-08:00

Whew! It took 2 weeks, and I had to repaint 2 of the cats, but I'm finally done. Here are Oolong, Ashley and Jasmine... but don't tell anyone, they're supposed to be a Christmas gift!

The Radio Station Stats are In for October

2006-12-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I got my statistics for the month, and they are quite revealing. It has been about a month since I changed the station's format slightly. Mainly, I dropped the hour-long meditation because nobody every tuned in for a whole hour. But I also put in very short, 10-minute meditations that were designed to be imaginative journeys taken with your animal companion, or amongst animals.

My listening hours dropped by 1/4, which is big. My station launches are down almost 50%. Now, I suck at numbers, so bear with me. 385 hours is a total of 23,100 minutes in October, spread over 950 people. That's almost 25 minutes each per person over the month.

Okay, November was 586 people listening for 284 hours (17040 minutes). Alrighty, that's 29 minuts per person. So fewer people are sticking around longer.

Now, more 40 people indicated in November that they "preset" the station, basically saying they will come back, than in October. And 1 person said it was a favourite. So it seems like new people, who want to come back. Repeat listeners?

Ouch, my head hurts! So I wonder, is it better to have fewer listeners with more time, or better to have more listeners with just a few minutes less. Hmmm. I guess more is better, right? And why alientate your listener base? Some of them have been very good loyal over the years, it would be pretty nasty to ignore them, wouldn't it? And I'm not a terribly nasty person (just a little nasty, now and then ;)

Well, I think I'll work on a compromise. Meditations that are shorter than 1 hour, change up the music, and maybe do some promo spots for animal rescue organizations, or talk about pets or something like that. Could be fun! So look for some interesting changes over the next month. And if you have questions or comments, know of a worthy animal rescue group, or whatever, drop me a line!

Sue

Banjo and His Mum photo

2006-11-30T03:14:00.000-08:00

I wantedc to post a big of info from Jeff Ellis, the photographer who took "Banjo and His Mum". It was the first photo in a rotating series that I am using on the storefront to represent our relationship with animals. The photo was found on MorgueFiles, where people post images and let you use them however you want (personal, commercial, etc.). In return all they ask for is the a comment or email, telling them.

It's the least one can do, right? Jeff sent me an email back, saying "Despite asking that people do drop the photographer a little note, it is a rare occurance and therefore very gratifying when someone like yourself takes the time to do it. I like your site and wish you every success with
your business venture."

Thanks Jeff!

And as often happens, when one artist gets involved with another, there can be a creative spark. "Your use of the the image has given me the idea to do a photo project of images that reflect your site's philosophy says; images that reflect the bond between a human and their animal companion(s)," Jeff said.

Both he and his wife were down with the flu, and "Banjo himself is having to make do with the garden and is missing his long country walks, poor fella." But I am sure that once everyone is back on their feet, we will see some great things from Jeff. Please visit www.littlejackphotgraphy.com for more info.

-- Sue

Custom Pet Painting Portrait

2006-11-26T03:41:00.000-08:00

Being that it is getting close to Christmas, I've been commissioned to paint some pet portraits. The most recent are these three beauties! Aren't they gorgeous cats?! I'm looking forward to starting, and will make every effort to post my progress. Sometimes it takes me no time to create the paintings, and other times it will take days just to get an eye the way I want it. We'll see!

2006-11-23T03:18:00.000-08:00

I am trying a new experiment at the store. CafePress is discounting all calendars, so I've lowered my prices, and now the calendars are under $5. Then I decided I'd target some Google AdWords ads for border collie calendars and bulldog calendars, and "pet" calendars. I wanted to see if there was any difference between very targetted and rather general ads. The discount only runs until December 3, and I may, or may not, run my ads that long depending on their success.

It's always a little unnerving to see the money I spend on Google, not being made in the store. Like I said to my spouse, I am making money, I am just not making a profit yet ;)

The Miracle of the Cat Sitter Video

2006-11-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well, you could knock me over with a feather! Of all the cats, none has ever been interested in any "cat sitter" type videos. Until Reese. I borrowed a copy from my sister (who borrowed that copy from my other sister) after watching Reese stare intently at a crow that was on some nature channel documentary. She LOVES this stuff! Kai, as you can see, is bored. He wants to know what Reese is looking at, and couldn't care less about the birds and hamsters and fish on the television.

We even put Reese's tatty old cat tree in front of the TV for a while, so she could enjoy it in a leisurely fashion. Now, I actually have to go out and *buy* one of these things for her. Who knew?!

New Dachschund

2006-11-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I've noticed a lot of visitors to the store come there looking for Dachshunds, but generally aren't enthralled with my little Doxie's face. So, I've created a new one that I hope captures people's imaginations. It's based on Guinness, the friendly little dog of a co-worker. She used to bring him into the office!

2006-11-14T04:52:00.000-08:00

Well! After a day of coding, I finally have a main page on the My Visible Soul store that looks good. It includes the first of a great series of photos celebrating pets and their parents. I was going to create a downloadable catalogue, and use this photo (and the others to follow) within the catalogue. That's just too ambitious right now. But I did want to use the photos somehow, and decided to redesign the entire storefront, just to fit the photo in. A few prototypes later, and voila! If you haven't been there recently, go and take a look. Got something to say about it? Let me know :)

A Little Bird Told Me

2006-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

What a grey day today! Cold, wet, November skies, to be sure. And despite that, I had to meet my spouse at the local Starbucks for a"tall javachip frappuchino, double-blended with whip and chocolate sauce, please." Damn this addiction! We managed to get a table right by the entrance, so we could watch the people walking past outside.

The area of Church and Wellesley that I live in is very dog-friendly. The Starbucks has a dog tie post, and a bowl of water, for example. One fellow had an adorable Akita pup, and people both inside and outside the coffee house swooned over it. We loved it, the guy about to leave the store told us he loved it, and the brave soul sitting outside in the slightly sheltered patio was fawning over the little pup. Then a couple coming in to the Starbucks were raving about how cute it was. Maybe we Torontonians aren't the cold, big city folk that our Canadian counterparts say we are. When it comes to dogs, The Big Smoke totally blows its cool!

That fellow who was braving the cold and drizzle outside on the patio had a bit bag of almonds with him. There are only 2 tables on this little patio: he was at one, and a little bird showed up on the other. We watched from inside as it eyed him, and eyed his almonds. Cautiously it hopped over to his table as he broke a sliver of almond off and left it just an inch or so away from the bird. Of course, the bird took the almond and flew off, and this guy had the biggest grin on his face as he turned around to look in the Starbucks window (looking to see if anyone had seen this event). My spouse nodded in the affirmative and flashed a smile.

After a few moments, the patio guy finally came back into the Starbucks, to get another coffee perhaps, and, jesting, asked if we'd like an almond too!

It's amazing how, even on a cold, grey wet day in the heart of the city, the presence of animals can bring strangers together, if only for a moment.

Boxer design added to store

2006-11-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to finally add a decent looking Boxer to My Visible Soul designs! Isn't he handsome? Soulful eyes really set this dog apart from other designs. Be sure to check out My Visible Soul for both blue and yellow sunburst dogs.

New Jack Russell Design

2006-11-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yep, finally got off my butt and designed a new, adult Jack Russell graphic. Here's a preview! You can find the yellow and blue sunburst Jack Russell designs at My Visible Soul.

For the love of music

2006-11-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

I was chatting with my friend Chris this evening, about her domestic moggie, Sam. Seems that she loved the song Cocaine, by Eric Clapton. I mean she loved that song. She'd close her eyes, purse her lips and purr every time it came on AM radio. Totally freaky!!

Caught in the act

2006-11-06T02:57:00.000-08:00

Finally, proof positive! They are a little blurry, but this is Reese when she is ignored for too long. She starts off with a little nibble and works her way up, taking bigger and bigger bites until she can no longer be ignored! What a crazt cat!

And in the meantime... back at My Visible Soul, I am pleased to say that I've designed some stocking stuffers. There are bumper stickers (also good on binders and in lockers!) and buttons. With the buttons, you can buy in bulk and give like Santa for less than $1 each.

Other stocking stuffer ideas for pet lovers are the coffee mugs and teddy bears.

I've also just begun using Google AdWords. It's an advertising program I used years ago, and am back using it again for My Visible Soul. I think you'll be seeing more and more of MVS over the next few months :)

Wednesday's MP3 download

2006-11-02T03:08:00.000-08:00

You can dowload today's MP3, a walk with dogs and horses in the autum, courtesy of My Visible Soul.

Technorati tags: free , download , mp3 , nature

Have I introduced Kai?

2006-10-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

Have I introduced you to Kai? He's a blue point siamese cat, about 4 years old. The photo doesn't really do him justice, but *you* try taking a picture of a curious Siamese cat! Big ears, BIG cat. How big?

Here's Reese. A standard Calico housecat, who you've met before. She can actually walk under his belly without much of a crouch, THAT's how big Kai is!

We got Kai from the Thai-Yves cattery here in Toronto. They have a pic of his dad. Ready...

Wowser! This is Grand Champion Thai-Yves DreamWeaver, Marcus to his friends, a real cutie pie. Kai looked similarly when we got him. Loooooong as can be, skinny as a pencil. He's all legs and tail and ears. Okay, after 4 years, Kai actually has a bit of a floppy belly on him too. A nice, in-the-house cattery where the animals are hand-raised. Even in you aren't in the market, you should check them out for their weird and wonderful cats!

Technorati tags:
cat , pet, funny , kitten , photo

Mondays Bite

2006-10-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

Once again, Reese is up to her old chewing tricks. This time, the corner of a piece of furniture, but without warning! It wasn't until I heard a snap as she bit a piece off that I realized she was around! Eeeergh!

Perhaps it's just as well that she's found a new cat toy to play with. It's the loofah sponge with hang rope, like the one below, which sits on the outside corner of the bathtub. She walks into the bathroom, stalks it, and gives it a huge smack to send it hurtling into the bathtub. Then she carefully climbs into the tub so as not to alert the loofah, takes a big chomp and hauls it into the foyer for easy chewing. Sometimes the "tail" and sometimes the "body", she's a big fan of the loofah sponge.

Blue Dog

2006-10-27T03:17:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that My Visible Soul has branched out with a special series called The Blue Border Collie. Frankly, I have a messenger bag on its way to me right now! A gorgeous little pup, to be sure. Uh oh, I'm running late and the cat is giving my chair "the look"...

My costumed cat

2006-10-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

You guessed it, a friend decided to dress Reese up as a lady bug. Oooh, doesn't she look happy!

Download this MP3

2006-10-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Here's an MP3 for you, free to download. I recorded it. It's a meadow, just a meadow, and the whole meadow. I find these nature recordings to be very soothing for both us and our fuzzy kids. Birds chirping, crickets, the whole thing is nice to listen to. Download it, take your pet in your arms, and listen for a few minutes together to a calming, meditative meadow.

Enjoy!

--Sue

Dogs in 100 Years

2006-10-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

On my way to work this morning, I saw someone stooping and scooping his dog's poop. It's the law here, but it's also polite. He pulled out his baggie, grabbed the handful of poop, and dropped it into the nearby garbage bin. But it makes me wonder what the dog is thinking.

Dogs work in packs, and we humans are supposed to be the leader of the pack. Even a pack of 1. So is the dog thinking, "Wow, I must be really special if the leader of the pack is picking up my poop." Because you know darn well that's what cats think when you clean the litter box. We are their staff, to be sure! I wonder if the way dogs think will develop over time.

In 100 years, will dogs have a cat attitude toward us? "I am so great you feel compelled to pick up my poop, carry it around to share the odours, and then deposit it in a special metal container for further distribution." I shudder to think!

Job Posting - Animal Care Officer, Toronto

2006-10-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

The City of Toronto is hiring a permanent Animal Care and Control Officer, at $26.22 per hour. Visit their website for details, call closes October 27 2006.

Free Wallpaper

2006-10-23T03:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a real charmer! This little lamb is smiling just to cheer up your desktop. Have fun! For instructions on how to install a wallpaper, the SETI organization has these great directions, I couldn't improve on them.

1024x768

800x600

Free Cat Wallpaper

2006-10-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

My Fuzzy Alarm Clock

2006-10-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

Reese, my fuzzy alarm clock, allowed me a gracious 19 minutes of sleeping in this morning... and who says animals can't tell time? She is a remarkably consistent and insistent cat, let me tell you. Because waking up isn't all I must do. And no, I can't just feed her, either. I must also sit at the computer for a while and take a shower. After my shower, it's Reese time: she waits on the bath mat for me every morning for 10 minutes of pets and attention. If she doesn't get that, well, she's in a baaaad mood for the whole day. Readers of other blogs will know Reese, but just in case, here's a pic:

See how happy she looks being posed? I got at about the age of 1.5 years, about 1.5 years ago, from a small Toronto rescue group who took up the challenge of finding homes for cats when the North York SPCA closed. Hard to believe in a city of millions that an SPCA closed down! I found her on PetFinder, simply narrowing down the city and the choice of animal. As a child, I had dogs and dogs and dogs. As an adult in the city, I've had cats and cats and cats. Can't wait until I am some old biddy out in the country... horses maybe? Remind me one day to tell you about the donkey...

I just looked beside me, and there she is, staring at me. If I ignore her long enough, she will tap my elbow. If I keep ignoring her, she'll bite my chair. Don't believe me? Look at this:

Hmmm... looks like I have to dust, too!

-- Sue

Welcome!

2006-10-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to the blog for My Visible Soul.

My name is Sue, I'm a small-time graphic designer with a deep and abiding respect and love for my pets. I believe that people have (or should have) a spiritual connection with the animals in their lives. As a creative expression of this connection, I developed the My Visible Soul series, available for purchase at My Visible Soul. Yes, it's marketing, but if you knew me, you'd know that it's coming from a good place within my heart. And I truly believe the "tag" or catch phrase or whatever it's called (yeah, really good marketing there)... With time, the pets in our lives become our visible souls.

For me, this means that over the years, the animal companions who share our lives reflect the love, care and devotion we show them. We take on parts of their personalities too, I think. Let me tell you, there aren't many people who have had a Jack Russell Terrier for long, who aren't energetic and excited throughout the day!

I will post regularly to this site with pet tales, funny-but-true animal stories, videos, pix and quotes celebrating the pets in our lives. Join me every day, subscribe via Atom (see the bottom of the page), and celebrate!

And so my like-minded friends, welcome!

-- Sue